#### 16.6.3 Understanding how KLinks work

Keyword links (KLinks) are based on index entries. When you are viewing a topic that contains a KLink jump, you can click the jump hotspot (or related-topics button) to display a list of links to all topics that are indexed on the keyword(s) specified in the jump.

The following DITA2Go-generated Help systems nominally support KLinks, though only for index entries that meet assorted restrictions:

HTML Help

OmniHelp

WinHelp 4

You insert at the start of a topic a KLink jump (via KLinkJump PI marker) that specifies the content of one or more entries in the index. When a user selects the KLink jump, all index entries with the same content, and with the same links as in the index, are displayed in a list.

Use KLinks only as a last resort

KLinks are high-maintenance items for documents where index entries are subject to change when the document is revised. An index term in a KLink jump must match exactly a term in the index itself; if the term is changed in the index, you must make the identical change in any KLink jump that references that index term, or the jump will not generate a link to the corresponding topic; and in some systems, it might yield an error message instead. Help-system implementation of KLinks is uneven. KLinks have proved to be problematic in all DITA2Go-generated Help systems where they are nominally supported.

Previous Topic: 16.6.2 Understanding how ALinks work

Next Topic: 16.6.4 Adding related-topic link keywords in DITA XML

Parent Topic: 16.6 Providing related-topic links for Help systems

Sibling Topics:

16.6.1 Understanding related-topic links

16.6.2 Understanding how ALinks work

16.6.4 Adding related-topic link keywords in DITA XML

16.6.5 Adding ALink and KLink jumps in DITA XML

16.6.6 Creating target-and-jump ALinks for HTML-based Help

16.6.7 Specifying ALink and KLink list-link destinations